Marian Wright Edelman, President of the Children's Defense Fund and vocal advocate for our nation's children, has pulled important data from the most recent Department of Education Civil Rights Data Collection Survey. Citing the 2009-2010 version, she speaks to things we know all too well: "inequities in funding and educational resources place poor children in low-performing schools, with inadequate facilities and often ineffective teachers."The litany of practices that contribute to the … [Read more...]

"Parents—and this is a real sea change—understand the infant-toddle years as learning years."
—Betty Holcomb, Policy Director, Children's Initiatives
An article recently posted in the Wall Street Journal focused on the growing competition to find excellent early childhood programs in New York City. The change in this case is that the demand appears to be driven by affluent parents who are newly convinced that their very young children need the stimulation and guided instruction available throug … [Read more...]

Relationship is Fundamental
The importance of relationship carries on through constructivist, traditional, religious, military, and non-traditional models. It is so fundamental, in fact, that it could be said that the ability to form positive and nurturing relationships with students is the sine qua non of a student-centered approach. The primary importance of relationship is also a well established factor in research on the development of resilience in children.Seeking to identify the factors … [Read more...]

Sugata Mitra Teaches About Self-Teaching
Consider the connection between relationship and self-teaching.At first glance this will appear to be a contradiction. It would seem that self-teaching is, by definition, outside the realm of relationship. Of the list of educational context categories—military, traditional, Montessori, et cetera it is the least dependent on adult guidance. On further inspection, we discover that the very nature of learning is deeply affected by relationship at the f … [Read more...]

In Part 2 of the brainstorming session at the NISCE Launch and Workshop event the focus was on the student perspective.Results paralleled each other in some interesting ways when the educators were asked to take on the role of students and respond to the question of what makes a student feel successful. The following were noted:Positive social interactions during the day
Meaningful communication with peers, parents, and educators
Having an 'aha' moment when tackling a problem or … [Read more...]

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NISCE publishes a series of white papers on the challenges and benefits of student-centered education. Download free pdfs of our latest white papers here. Interested in working with us on a white paper? Email twilson@nisce.org. Thanks.